SITES

Posted by: Ryan Allen on July 25, 2008 at 5:22 pm

You could knock Detroit’s kid rockers the Displays for being slightly derivative of D-town rock of the past — namely the Sights, the Dirtbombs, and all the jean-jacketed grease monkeys that came before them — but what is the fun in that? While some might choose to look at Ain’t Gonna Put Us Down as a trite tribute to an era of Detroit rock that simply ain’t as hot as it used to be, we choose to evaluate their bash n’ bang style of garage rock as the result of a couple of kids steered in the right direction. Trust us, the fact that these guys could be rehashing Wes Borland licks or painting gloomy, My Chemical Romance-informed pictures of death and doom is not lost on us. So while most high school-aged bands their age are trying to master the latest piece of garbage Staind has shat out to the world — or, even worse maybe, saying that they’re into “classic rock” because of Guitar Hero — the Displays were weaned on the good stuff: the Gories, the Hentchmen, and yes, no doubt, the Stooges and the MC5. And Ain’t Gonna Put Us Down shows it through and through. Plus, the Displays have had their fair share of growing pains already; and no, we’re not talking about the dreaded Bobby Brady-style voice change. While writing the bulk of the new material, the Displays lost a guitarist, so it was left to bassist Andrew Hecker (you know, the one you see at shows sporting his “I Like Hentch” shirt with pride, as you wonder exactly how he got through the door in the first place), to make some very adult-like decisions. The solution? How about get one of your guitar heroes — the Sights’ Eddie Baranek, to be exact — to come and shred on every track for you? And hey, while you’re at it, get Jim Diamond behind the boards to make things official. What, you think these dudes will just do that for anybody? Such is why the Displays and Ain’t Gonna Put Us Down is essential next-wave Detroit-rock listening. The band knows what it means to work hard, and it’s a sentiment heard all over the record’s nine blistering tracks — tracks that hail rock and roll and extend a middle finger to all the haters who try and deny their right to rock. Some might say they’re over it, but we say, “Cheers boys!” — Ryan Allen